Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Rejection, The Arrival of the Immortal Realm

Li Huaizhen shook his head, “I don’t know the origin, but their strength is formidable!”

Chen Ansheng’s face darkened, saying, “You have an immortal artifact in hand, and you can’t deal with them?”

Li Huaizhen forced a smile, saying, “Noble Sir, I can’t discern the specifics of the opponent’s situation. I’m afraid that revealing the immortal artifact would attract stronger experts, so I dare not use it.”

Chen Ansheng slightly nodded.

He secretly thought that Li Huaizhen’s approach was correct. If the opponent found out he had an immortal artifact, they would definitely pursue him relentlessly, making it even more dangerous.

“I will handle this matter personally.”

Having suffered enough in the Immortal Realm, there was no reason for him to continue as a punching bag after descending to the mortal world—he had to reclaim his dignity.

“This immortal herb will help with your injuries.”

Chen Ansheng took out a normal healing herb from the Immortal Realm’s storage bag and handed it to Li Huaizhen.

Li Huaizhen was taken aback, immediately kneeling and accepting it with both hands, “Thank you for your generous gift, Noble Sir.”

After consuming the healing herb, Li Huaizhen felt the intense pain in his internal organs quickly alleviated.

Immediately, Chen Ansheng unfolded his immortal sense, covering the entire Zhuzhou area.

Upon this scan, he discovered hundreds of cultivators in the Great Ascension stage, as well as three Earth Immortal level beings.

As for whether any Immortal Realm masters had arrived, Chen Ansheng was unsure. Once someone stepped into the Immortal Realm in the mortal world, they would be freed from certain restrictions of the heavens and earth. It was difficult to track their movements using just immortal sense without secret techniques.

Withdrawing his immortal sense, Chen Ansheng saw that Li Huaizhen’s injuries had improved and instructed, “There are many unknown cultivators. I don’t know who injured you. Here’s the plan: go to the edge of the forbidden zone and investigate secretly. As soon as you find those people, report back to me immediately.”

Li Huaizhen complied, bowed respectfully, and left the great hall.

Chen Ansheng then sat down in place and began practicing the Spirit Gathering Technique.

—

Three days passed.

On this day, Qing’er arrived at the palace, waiting outside.

Chen Ansheng opened his eyes and exited the palace.

“Noble Sir, those two fairies are already waiting in Ling’an Hall.”

“Good, I’ll head over now.”

Hearing from Qing’er that the other party had come to visit several times, he thought he might as well give them a chance to meet.

Ling’an Hall.

Yao Hongxue and Lianxing were drinking tea.

“It’s really arrogant to keep us waiting so long,” Yao Hongxue said, clearly displeased.

“Hongxue, after all, we initiated the visit. Let’s be patient,” Lianxing suggested.

“Why should I be patient with him? Do you know my real intention for coming today?” Yao Hongxue replied, feeling frustrated.

“Ah?” Lianxing felt a bad premonition and advised, “Hongxue, I heard he’s quite powerful. Let’s not act recklessly.”

Yao Hongxue smiled, saying, “No matter his background, I’ll meet him and firmly reject him if I find him unsatisfactory. It’s only reasonable; does he dare consume us both?”

Lianxing finally sighed in relief, “In that case, it isn’t too excessive.”

Just then, Chen Ansheng and Qing’er entered Ling’an Hall.

As soon as they entered, both sides stared at each other blankly, wide-eyed.

“It’s you?”

The two women were momentarily bewildered.

What a familiar face, even if it turned to ash, they would recognize it.

Isn’t this the one who stole Lianxing’s spirit stone and spied on the two sisters during their bath?

Chen Ansheng was a bit surprised, regretting not using his immortal sense to check the two women first.

“You two are the Dao partners that the two sects introduced to me?” Chen Ansheng asked.

“Yeah, what do you want?” Yao Hongxue said angrily.

“Nothing much, an ugly rejection. Please leave without seeing me off.”

Chen Ansheng dropped this line and vanished from Ling’an Hall.

“What’s going on?!”

Yao Hongxue was dumbfounded.

Throughout the past six months, she visited multiple times just to give this guy a harsh rejection. She had prepared many arguments to embarrass Chen Ansheng.

Who knew he was so ruthless, not giving her a chance to speak and simply leaving behind the words “ugly rejection.”

So infuriating!

Yao Hongxue felt like she might explode with anger.

Compared to Yao Hongxue, Lianxing felt more aggrieved.

After six months of anticipation and careful dressing, it only earned her an “ugly rejection”!

“Please leave, ladies.”

Qing’er gestured for them to exit.

The two women, burning with humiliation and anger, had no face to stay any longer.

“Just wait! The humiliation today will be repaid a hundredfold in the future!”

They left, pretending to be indifferent while inwardly cursing.

—

“Why hasn’t Li Huaizhen returned yet?”

Three days had passed, and Li Huaizhen still hadn’t reported back.

Chen Ansheng was about to use his immortal sense to investigate when he sensed a visitor approaching.

Noticing the aura of the incoming people, Chen Ansheng raised an eyebrow.

One of them he recognized, the Earth Immortal ancestor from the Yao Yue Sect. As for the other person, he looked young, and even Chen Ansheng couldn’t discern his realm accurately.

“I heard that you’ve exited seclusion, so I specifically came to pay a visit,” the old man outside the mountain gate said.

The two waited for Chen Ansheng to summon them.

During the waiting period, the young cultivator whispered to the old man, “Hongzhi, in this desolate land of Zhuzhou, is it true that an Immortal Realm expert is coming to establish a sect? You’re not being deceived by an illusion, are you?”

The old man, whose real name was Ge Hongzhi, was only comfortable enough to call his full name in front of this senior, who had a higher status.

Ge Hongzhi transmitted, “Master Brother, although my cultivation isn’t high, I’m not foolish enough to be tricked. I sensed it very clearly; indeed, he is from the Immortal Realm. As for which immortal level he is, I’m not capable of probing.”

The young man nodded silently, “In that case, I’d like to meet him properly.”

Ge Hongzhi’s heart sank in surprise as he spoke quickly, “Master Brother, you’re not thinking about causing trouble for him, are you?”

The young man smiled, “He hasn’t offended me. Why would I cause him trouble? I just want to see if he’s worth befriending and if he qualifies to enter the Ascending Immortal Alliance.”

“Now I understand; I was overthinking it.” Ge Hongzhi finally realized.

Chen Ansheng deliberately delayed a moment, letting them wait, before slowly transmitting, “Since you’ve come, come in for tea.”

After receiving the invitation, the two followed the direction of Chen Ansheng’s voice and flew in.

“Ha ha ha, I’ve heard that you’ve exited seclusion, so I specially came to congratulate and visit you. I hope you don’t mind,” Ge Hongzhi said with a hearty laugh.

“Please sit.” Chen Ansheng said without any unnecessary words, gesturing for the two to take a seat.

Ge Hongzhi felt slightly embarrassed, feeling like he was trying to warm up to someone who remained indifferent. However, this only confirmed his expectations of Chen Ansheng’s strength. A master wouldn’t lower himself to flatter a low-level cultivator; everything was as it should be.

“Noble Sir, this is my Master Brother, Meng Bufan,” Ge Hongzhi introduced after seating himself.

Chen Ansheng nodded in acknowledgment, introducing himself, “I am Chen Ansheng. Welcome, noble sirs. Besides coming for tea, do you have other matters?”

Ge Hongzhi replied, “No, no, we just came to meet you and have a casual chat.”

“Oh.” Chen Ansheng took a sip of tea and said, “While I was in seclusion, an outsider injured the sect master of my sect. Noble Sir, do you know which brazen brat did this?”

Hearing this, Ge Hongzhi was unsure how to respond.

Meanwhile, Meng Bufan felt something was off. Based on Chen Ansheng’s words and actions, he didn’t seem like a fellow from the Immortal Realm.

However, when he just tried to probe with his immortal sense, he couldn’t gauge Chen Ansheng’s realm, indicating it was definitely not some illusion.

“This matter, I have indeed heard about it. Due to the recent disturbances in the forbidden zone, the Zhuzhou area has been chaotic for some time. I didn’t dare to make random inquiries, so I’m not clear about who it was,” Ge Hongzhi explained after some thought.

“I was merely asking casually, Noble Sir doesn’t need to be nervous,” Chen Ansheng smiled.

“Of course not, I’m not nervous at all. We’re all acquaintances; what would I have to be nervous about?” Ge Hongzhi replied repeatedly.

Meng Bufan observed, feeling that his junior brother was too timid and easily looked down upon.

With this thought in mind, Meng Bufan wanted to test Chen Ansheng, so he proposed, “Chen Dao Brother, I’ve been practicing an ancient sword technique recently but have encountered a bottleneck. I wonder if Chen Dao Brother could offer me some guidance?”

Chen Ansheng set down the tea bowl in his hands and said lightly, “If you want to spar with me, just say so. There’s no need for indirect approaches. I, Chen Ansheng, dislike people who beat around the bush.”

Meng Bufan’s face lit up with joy, clasping his fists, “Chen Dao Brother is indeed straightforward! Then please, grant me your guidance!”

Chen Ansheng also wanted to see how his strength measured up against the Immortal Realm cultivators from the lower realm.